College campuses these days abound with talk of “safe spaces,” “trigger warnings,” and “microaggressions,” therapeutic language designed to protect students from ideas that may offend or harm. Yet that mentality, apart from its chilling effect on free speech, has if anything made students feel more vulnerable, not less, as rates of depression and anxiety climb on campus and across the country.

In their new book The Coddling of the American Mind, Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt explore the social trends and bad ideas that have led to this moment, arguing that a culture of safetyism is doing serious damage to the intellectual and social formation of Generation Z. This week, they join Richard Aldous to discuss.